


Aftershock

by NPennyworth



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Children, Children with PTSD, Fluff, Gen, Hogwarts Inter-House Friendships, Hogwarts Inter-House Unity, Post-Second War with Voldemort, Post-Series, Short One Shot, Sleepovers, Slytherin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-12-07 12:38:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11623704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NPennyworth/pseuds/NPennyworth
Summary: The year after the Second Great Wizarding War the students are returning to Hogwarts, and quite a bit of anti-Slytherin prejudice remains. The Slytherin house decides to fix this by hosting an inter house sleepover.





	Aftershock

**Author's Note:**

> Based off of a prompt on tumblr for a house unity slumber party: http://its-sweet-jade.tumblr.com/post/126800689667/slytherin-house-headcanon-after-the-war-the  
> This was lots of fun to write, so enjoy!

The year after the Second Great Wizarding War the halls of Hogwarts were subdued. Students travelled between classes in groups and didn’t make eye contact with each other. As the year progressed the houses began to reach out to each other, offering comfort and friendship. With one notable exception.

“They all hate us,” groaned Head Boy Rigel, flopping down into an armchair in the Slytherin common room.

“Don’t say that,” Head Girl Cressida admonished, gaining only an eye roll in response. “Hate’s a strong word.”

“Nobody outside of Slytherin will talk with us unless a teacher forces them. It’s not safe for firsties to go outside the common room alone or they’ll be bullied. We’re bullied anyways, even when we stay in groups.” Rigel made a show of counting on his fingers and Cressida slapped his hand away in frustration.

“It’s just temporary. They’re just nervous, that’s all.”

“And how are we supposed to make them less nervous when they don’t allow us anywhere near them?” Rigel asked.

“What would the other houses do?” she mumbled, her forehead creasing in thought. “Everybody likes Hufflepuff, right? Don’t they have sleepovers all the time?”

“So?” Rigel asked, and Cressida grinned at him.

“We could have a sleepover! An inter house sleepover!”

"What?" Rigel sat up in shock, staring at Cressida like she'd grown a second head.

"A sleepover!" she said. "We'll invite over anybody who wants to come and we can all sleep here in the common room, and we could show them the squid in the lake and tell stories-"

"Are you insane?" Rigel asked, interrupting her babbling. "They'll think that we're inviting them down here to be eaten or something!"

"Don't be so dramatic," Cressida scolded. "This will be fun!"

* * *

 They announced it the next day at breakfast. The entire day the entire school was buzzing, with students from every house murmuring about the sleepover. Slytherin students cautiously began to anticipate the evening, hoping that maybe they could begin to show everybody that they weren't all evil.

Cressida got permission for the sixth and seventh years to be excused from classes early to get the common room ready. They managed to transfigure the drapes from their beds into a lush green rug to cover the floor and shoved all the furniture to the side, and then there was nothing left to do but wait.

"It's getting pretty late," Rigel said, and Cressida turned from her spot staring at the wall and glared at him.

"They'll be here," she said. "We just need to wait a little bit longer." But then she took in the yawning first years, the fourth years slouched over the chairs in the corners, the sixth years already beginning to untransfigure the carpet in the corners of the room.

"Cressida," Rigel said, and she waved him away.

"Somebody might still come," she insisted weakly. "You can get the firsties to bed, I'll just stay up a little longer."

Nobody said anything as they quietly moved the furniture back and trudged off to their dorms, leaving Cressida still staring at the wall.

* * *

 The next day the entire Slytherin house was almost in mourning. There were no smiles, no friendly conversation, no laughter during breakfast. The other houses noticed, but most of them didn't think it was important.

"Maybe they were being honest," a first year Ravenclaw, whispered to her friends on their way to Charms. "It looks like they really wanted us to come."

"They look really sad," observed a first year Gryffindor watching the sombre Slytherin table during lunch. "Do you think that they really did want us to come?"

"Maybe we can make it up to them," suggested a first year Hufflepuff. "Let's try to go tonight."

Cressida was expecting a group of Slytherin students who'd forgotten the password when she'd opened the wall after the knock. She was not expecting a group of scared firsties from three different houses, each of them clutching a blanket and a pillow.

"Are you still having a sleepover?" asked one of them, and Cressida realized that she was staring.

"The sleepover... yes! Yes, we're still having a sleepover! Come in, we're so glad that you came!"

The Slytherin students in the common room sat up at the sight of the firsties, shocked.

"Well, don't just sit there!" Cressida admonished, raising her eyebrow at them. "We're having a sleepover and this place is a disaster!"

"Of course," Rigel said, and the house snapped into action. Some students shoved aside the couches, some transfigured different objects into mattresses, and some ran into dorms to alert the other Slytherin students.

In no time at all the entire Slytherin house had their pillows and blankets laid out in the common room. The Hufflepuff students were sharing snacks and making plans with Slytherins to steal more, the Gryffindors were trying to tell scarier stories than the Slytherins, and the Ravenclaws were asking if Slytherins could see the mermaids from the windows.

"They came," Cressida said in amazement, looking at the sleepover with a mixture of pride and amazement. "They actually came."

"I knew they would," Rigel said with a grin, prompting a punch from Cressida.

* * *

 The change was gradual, but it eventually reached a stage that even the most oblivious students couldn't ignore it. There was a Hufflepuff playing exploding snaps with a Slytherin, and a Ravenclaw and Slytherin gossiping in a corner together. When a Slytherin student tripped in the courtyard a Gryffindor would bend down to help them, and the Slytherin table was livelier than ever.

The second years soon joined the first years on their weekly sleepovers in the Slytherin common room, and the third years soon followed. The older students couldn't quite shake off the memory of the War, but surely a Death Eater wouldn't be sharing their money at Honeydukes, or offering to give broomstick riding lessons after classes.

Even the most suspicious were forced to admit that maybe they'd misjudged the snake's house.

And so, after a month of Slytherin-hosted sleepovers, the Hufflepuff dormitory stepped up and opened it's doors for a night. Gryffindor and Ravenclaw were next, and the House Unity Slumber Party became a weekly tradition.

It wasn't enough to erase the nightmares of the war, but it might be enough to prevent another one.


End file.
